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Gifts: Metis
The Metis Gifts Many spirits bestow breed Gifts, usually to honor ancient pacts or as rewards for past deeds. For example, tales speak of how an ancient metis helped a mole to hide from predators; in return, the mole taught the metis how to burrow into the earth to hide from his own enemies, and mole-spirits have continued to pass down the trick to metis ever since. The spirit world has never hesitated to provide its blessings to metis -- in the eyes of the spirits, a metis is as true a Garou as any other. Metis Gifts tend to be an eclectic collection of pacts and powers. Constantly scorned by their brethren and denied pride of place, metis learn to make friends where they can and take what allies they can get. Rank 1 Create Element The metis may create a small amount of one of the four Western classical elements -- fire, air, earth, or water. She could make a rock to throw, fill a bathtub with no faucet, light fires without matches, or provide air in an airtight room. She cannot create specialized forms of any element. Precious metals (especially silver), lethal gases, and acid are beyond her reach. Elementals teach this Gift. System: The player spends one Gnosis point and rolls Gnosis. Each success allows the character to create roughly one cubic foot (.3 cubic meter) of the desired element, to a maximum weight of 100 lbs (45 kg), anywhere she can see within 60 feet (18 m). The element remains in existence until used up (breathed, in the case of air, or burned up, in the case of fire without any fuel to keep it going). The flames created by this Gift inflict one health level of damage per success, to a maximum of three levels of damage. Primal Anger The metis gives of herself to feed the Rage in her heart, burning away her very blood and muscle in the process. The spirits of ancient metis teach this Gift; few members of other breeds have endured enough shame and suffering to learn it. System: The character may inflict a single level of aggravated damage on herself once per scene, and gain three points of Rage in exchange (even if doing so takes her beyond her permanent Rage rating). Rat Head Metis are born into a world where they metaphorically don't belong; it seemed only natural to rat-spirits to teach them to get into such places in the literal sense as well. This Gift renders the metis's bone structure collapsible, allowing her to squeeze through any gap she can fit her head into. System: The player spends one Gnosis and rolls Dexterity + Athletics (difficulty 7). For the rest of the scene, the metis may squirm through any gap she can fit her face into, moving at her walking speed to do so. Sense Wyrm The werewolf can sense nearby manifestations of the Wyrm. This Gift involves a mystical sense, not a visual or olfactory image, although Garou often describe the Wyrm's spiritual emanations as a stench. This Gift doesn't necessarily sense dedication to the Wyrm, merely contact with its spiritual essence, which can cling to even blameless souls. Sense Wyrm requires active concentration; the spiritual sense it provides doesn't function passively. The Gift may be taught by any Gaian spirit. System: The player rolls Perception + Occult. The difficulty depends on the concentration and strength of the Wyrm's influence: Sensing a single fomor in the next room would be difficulty 6, while detecting the stench of a Bane that was in the room an hour ago would be difficulty 7. Vampires register as Wyrm-tainted, save those with Humanity ratings of 7 or higher. Shed The metis can shed a layer of fur and skin, slipping from an opponent's grasp or escaping from bonds with ease. A lizard-spirit or snake-spirit teaches this Gift. System: The player rolls Dexterity + Primal-Urge (difficulty 7). If the roll succeeds, the character loses a tuft of fur or skin (revealing healthy new hide), allowing her to slip free of grapples or bonds such as ropes or chains. Rank 2 Burrow This Gift grants the ability to burrow through the earth, creating a tunnel roughly the size of the digger's body, which others can follow through. The werewolf must be in a form possessing claws to use this Gift. Mole-spirits teach this Gift. System: The player rolls Strength + Athletics against a difficulty depending on the substance to be excavated (4 for loose mud, 9 for solid rock). Some metals (such as steel and titanium alloys) and other reinforced structures won't yield to the werewolf no matter how hard she digs. The character can burrow one yard per turn for each success. After the initial roll, the character does not need to roll again to continue at the same speed. Curse of Hatred The metis takes hold of the hate in her soul and layers it into her words, scourging the spirits of those she addresses. A spirit of hate teaches this Gift. System: The player spends one Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Expression (difficulty equal to the target's Willpower). If she succeeds, her opponent loses two Willpower points and two Rage points. This Gift may be used on an opponent only once per scene. Form Mastery This Gift empowers the Wyld spark that resides in all Garou, granting the character greater control over her shapeshifting abilities. A wolf-spirit teaches this Gift. System: When shapeshifting, all difficulties are reduced by 1. Additionally, when enacting partial transformations, the player need no longer spend a Willpower point, and the difficulty of the roll is 7. This Gift's effects are permanent. Sense Silver To those truly born Garou, Luna has granted the ability to sense a werewolf's greatest weakness. This Gift, taught by Lunes, allows the metis to detect the presence of silver. System: The player rolls Perception + Primal-Urge (difficulty 7). If successful, she can detect the presence of any silver within 100 yards. Three successes allow her to pinpoint the silver's location. Stoat’s Guise ( Changing Ways ) In a world where he must fight fang and claw to fit in, the metis can use all the help he can get. This Gift allows him to change superficial aspects of his appearance, blending in or standing out as he wishes. The spirit of any animal that changes its color seasonally can teach this Gift, such as the stoat or ptarmigan. System: The player rolls Manipulation+Subterfuge (difficulty 6). Each success allows the werewolf to alter one aspect of his appearance for the scene. Examples include: hair/fur color or length, skin tone, eye color, and height or size by about a fifth in either direction. This Gift can alter or hide tribal markings and lesser scars, but it’s never potent enough to hide metis deformities completely. Rank 3 Chameleon Like the Gift's reptilian namesake, the Garou can blend with her natural surroundings. Unlike the lizard, the werewolf shifts fluidly with changing backgrounds, thus allowing the Garou to move about and even attack. A chameleon- or octopus-spirit teaches this Gift. System: The player spends one Gnosis point to activate the Gift. Anyone trying to see the werewolf, even in open ground, must make a Perception roll (difficulty of the Garou's Wits + Stealth) to detect her. Once the Garou attacks, the difficulty drops by 3. The Gift affects only sight; it does not mask the Garou's sound or scent. Eyes of the Cat The werewolf may see clearly in complete darkness. His eyes glow a lambent green while this power is in effect. A cat-spirit teaches this Gift. System: The character suffers no penalties from darkness. This power may be used at will; it requires no roll or expenditure. Mental Speech This Gift enables mental communication, even over vast distances. The user must either know the target personally (although friendship isn't necessary) or have something that belongs to that person, such as a lock of his hair. Bird-spirits and spirits of intellect teach this Gift. System: The player rolls Charisma + Empathy (difficulty 8) and spends a Willpower point; the effects last for a scene. The character may hold a mental conversation with a target at a maximum distance of 10 miles (16 km) per success. Mind reading isn't possible, but the werewolf may use social Abilities such as Intimidation. Rage of the Underdog ( Changing Ways ) Among the Garou, the metis are the ultimate underdogs, born to a stigma they never asked for. Reminders of this can fuel their Rage in battle. An ancestor spirit teaches this Gift. System: Whenever the werewolf suffers wound penalties and makes a successful attack against a less-wounded opponent, he may spend one point of Rage to add dice of damage equal to the difference between his wound penalties and those of his target. If he deals enough damage to cause wounds at least as serious as his own, he regains the point of Rage he spent. This Gift’s effects are permanent. Shell Shell places an emotional and instinctual barrier around the metis, shutting out the hostility of the world and suppressing his own powerful, destructive impulses. It is taught by a turtle-spirit. System: The player rolls Willpower (difficulty of the character's own Rage). Success insulates the metis for a scene behind a mystical and psychological barrier, immunizing him against mind-altering magic of all kinds for the rest of the scene. However, he cannot gain any successes on Empathy, Primal-Urge or Rage rolls, nor can he spend Rage points. Rank 4 Gift of the Porcupine The werewolf undergoes a startling transformation: Her fur elongates, becoming bristly and sharp like the quills of a porcupine. The werewolf must be in Crinos, Hispo or Lupus form to use this Gift. Porcupine teaches this gift, and he has a strong fondness for metis. System: The character spends a Gnosis point to sharpen her fur. Anyone whom the metis tackles, grapples or immobilizes takes (Strength + 1) aggravated damage from these newfound quills. Furthermore, those who strike her with bare flesh and score less than five successes on the attack roll take their own Strength in aggravated damage (this does not negate any damage done to the metis). This Gift lasts for one scene or until the werewolf wills her fur to return to normal. Lash of Rage The metis harnesses all of the shame, hate, and fury coiled in his heart and lashes out with it, destroying another. Bones snap, organs rupture, and cavities fill with blood as the metis's Rage tears the target apart. A spirit of fury teaches this Gift. System: The player spends one Rage point and rolls his Rage rating. A target within 100 yards (91 m) takes one level of unsoakable aggravated damage for each success. This Gift can be used safely only once per scene. Any additional uses inflict the Gift's full damage on both the metis and his target. Rattler’s Bite The metis's eyeteeth lengthen, and she can inject a deadly poison with her bite. Spider- and snake-spirits teach this Gift. System: The player spends a Rage point when attempting to bite an opponent. If the bite is successful, any remaining damage after soak is doubled. Tenacious Fury ( Changing Ways ) Survival at any cost and victory at any price; these are the tenets that keep the Garou fighting in the face of overwhelming adversity, and the metis understand them well. He can pour his Rage into the single-minded pursuit of his goal, keeping himself going when many others would have fallen. Spirits of fury or servants of Boar teach this Gift. System: When making a Rage roll to remain active after falling below Incapacitated (aka a Rage Heal), the player may spend up to a number of Rage points equal to his Willpower. Each point spent adds one success to the roll’s result. The metis cannot spend Willpower to avoid frenzying as a result of this roll, and it only requires three successes to frenzy, rather than four. Wither Limb With a snarl and a baleful stare, the werewolf ruins an opponent's limb: Bones twist, muscles wither, flesh desiccates. Creatures with regenerative capabilities will recover after one scene; all others are permanently crippled. Venomous spirits teach this Gift. System: The player spends a Gnosis point and rolls Willpower (difficulty equals the victim's Stamina + 4). The victim adds two to the difficulties of all Dexterity rolls. If a leg is crippled, he can move at only half his normal speed. Rank 5 Madness Metis struggle throughout their lives to find a place of dignity and respect amidst a minefield of horror and abuse. This Gift allows her to unleash her inner demons upon others, inflicting insanity and madness. The nature of the derangement inflicted varies from individual to individual, but is always severe, making it impossible for the victim to function normally. Lunes and spirits of trickery and madness teach this Gift. System: The player spends a Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Intimidation (difficulty equal to the victim's Willpower). The target immediately begins to suffer from a Derangement. The insanity lasts a number of days equal to the successes rolled. During this time, the metis can increase or decrease the severity of the madness, granting the victim lucidity and then driving him into psychosis. Even after the Gift has ended, the repercussions may haunt the victim for the rest of his life. Protean Form Born misshapen, the metis takes her deformity and makes it a source of power. She can twist her flesh in any number of ways, sprouting a number of unnatural features, from extra limbs to additional mouths to grasping tentacles. A Chimerling teaches this Gift. System: The character's ability to partially transform is permanently modified, allowing her to make almost any grotesque modifications the player can imagine. These modifications must logically bestow one of the following benefits: +2 dice on a certain category of attack rolls (extra clawed limbs for claw attacks, tentacles for clinches, etc), +2 damage on a certain category of attack rolls (a chest-mounted squid beak for extra damage on clinches, arms coated in shark teeth for boosted claw attacks, etc.), or +5 yards per turn of movement (extra legs, vestigial wings, etc.). Totem Gift Metis are Garou from the moment of their birth, and their ties to the spirit that guides their tribe run deep. The metis may plead with her tribal totem for power, with effects varying from tribe to tribe. Rat might send a swarm of rodents to attack the werewolf's enemies, while Grandfather Thunder might send down the lightning to strike aside obstacles and opponents. The potential of this Gift depends on the favor of the totem, and may extend into the miraculous. Only the tribal totem teaches this Gift. System: The player spends one Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Rituals (difficulty 7). The greater the number of successes, the more dramatic the aid provided. One success might cause a minor distraction, whereas 10 successes could produce volcanic eruptions or county-smashing tornadoes.